Quack-grass digger.



' L.- E. GUIDINGBR.

v l QUAGK mss BIGGER.

' APPLIOATION'HL'ED man; 1910. 'I I 14,027,125, 5 'I Patented May 21,1912.

2 SHEETS- SHEET 1.

y .BY l

'uLUMmA PLANOURMM cu.. WASHINGTON, nA c.

- L. E. GUIDINGER. QUACK GRASS BIGGER.

` f 4 A APPLIGATION FILED Dnc-.13; 1910. 1,027, 1 25.

Patented Mayzi, 1912.

l breaking up weeds, breakingup sod earthv LOUIS E. GUIDINGER, or ROLLING STONE, MINNESOTA.

aUAoK-Gmiss BIGGER.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I,- LoUIs E. GUIDINGB,

residing at Rolling Stone, in the county of Winona and State ofv Minnesota, have invented a new and ,Improved Quack-Grass Digger, of which `the following is aspecification.

My invention has for itsl'object to provide a simple, easily made and operated machine for digging and destroyingV quack grass,

and other analogous purposes, and it consi'sts in the peculiar construction and novel arrangement of parts, all of which will be hereinafter fully described, specifically1 pointed out in the appended claims rand illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Figure isa perspective view of my complete machine. Fig. 2, is a verticalsection of the same and shows onezofthesegmental cam devices for holding thedigger teeth to their fixed position as they pass over the soil and grass. Fig. 3, isa detail perspective view that illustrates a partv of the digger body or roller andthe means for shifting the adjustment of the cam devices, heref inafter referred to. Fig. ,is 'a plan .view of a portion of my invention. Y Fig. 5, ris an enlarged detail perspective view showing the tooth cleaner comb hereinafterreferred to. Fig. 6, is a detail perspective view of a modification in which springs "92 are provided to tend to hold the bars 9 from ychattering.

- In the practical construction, my quack digger comprises essentiallyfa draft frame that includes a tongue 1 on'which is mounted the swingletree 2 carrying the doubletrees 3 3 as best shown in Fig. 1, to the rear end of the tongue are secured hound-like strap Vbars l bent to form rearwardlyl projected armsfil for straddling the diggercylinder and for engaging with thespindles 51 of the axle 5 which, in my construction, is vof the double crank. end kind; The side arms Llil- Lil are braced by a cross ,barton which is mounted the drivers seatft() andthe said bar 6 has bearings '61 for. arockVV shaft 7, r

the purpose of which will presently appear. Upon the axle 5 is mounted a digger cylinder, consisting of wheel-like ends 8-8 freely rotatable on the axle, and a series of j cross bars or rods 9-9, theends of which areV rockably mounted in suitable bearingsv Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 21, 1912.

Application led December 13, 1910. Serial No. 597,017. i

SOFSO on the peripheral edges of the wheellike endsV of the cylinder. j

Any desired number of the rods-99 is provided and each rod has a series of uniformly spaced prong-like digger teeth 10 that .are normally radially projected from the cylinder and each rod 9 has ,an inwardly extended heel 90 that form levers'for cooperating, at predetermined times, with fixedly held cams 11-11 mounted within the cylinder, as best shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

As shown in the drawings,the cams 11-11 are of like segmental shape and each has a bearingedge 11a-'concentric withthe circum Y ferential edge of the cylinder ends, whereby to provide narrow segmental passagesk for the lever portions of therockably mounted prong carrying rods. The cams 11 are stationed on `the shaft 5 at a definite angle and they and the end members S may be vertically so adjusted that a greater or lesser soil pentration' may be obtained through the medium of the prongs 10, suchend be-V ing accomplished bythe positioning of the aforesaid partsV on the offsetshaft 5 which when swung on its spindles 51 inlthe direction of the arrow a Fig. 2, will raise the prong carrying part-s out of contact with the ground, and for such/purpose the shaft 7 heretofore referred to is arranged to be rocked by a lever 12 pivotally mounted on the cross bar'G of the frame of the machine adjacent the drivers seat 60, the said lever 12 having they usual rack and pawl connections 14-15, as shown. Y

Shaft- 7 is connected with the crank axle by two pairs of crank levers 16-16?, the levers 16a being rigidly attached to the shaft 7 and the others 16 to the crank axle 5, and

- the two levers are pivotally joined by rods 17 in such manner that by rocking theshaft 7 the crank axle is swung with respect to the disk to lift the digger cylinder off the ground for regulating the penetration of the digger teeth 10. Y

lBy reason of the peculiar arrangement of the cam members 11 with respectto the cylinder, it being understood the cams 11y are stationary, it follows that as the cylinder revolves, the heel or llever-likeportions 9() of Athe tooth carrying rods come into contact with the segmental'cams and rock the rods `9- so theirf prongy teeth project radiallylto the'maximum degree to form positive dig-k Y gers for engaging wit-hand rooting up the grass or weeds or breaking the sod, it being also apparent by referring to the drawings that during the passing of the members 90 over the edges of the cams ll the said teeth are held locked to their digging position, and so soon as the heels pass by the said cams 11, the rods 9 are rocked (the heels 90 being weighted) backwardly to such a position that the hanging weeds or grass slide off and drop back onto the ground.

l/Vhile for some kinds of surface digging, the automatic dropping back of the teeth tends to clear them of the hanging grass or weeds, to provide for positively cleaning the teeth of that kind of weeds, roots, etc., that incline to adhere to the teeth as they pass upwardly, a cleaner comb 35 is mounted at the upgoing side of the cylinder at that point where the teeth drop back, t-he said comb being so disposed that the digger teeth pass between the comb teeth 36, said teeth being iixedly held, by reason of the side arms 37 of the comb straddling the cylinder and being fixedly secured to the axle ends, see Fig. 5.

The operation of my machine is substantially as follows: lVhen the machine is drawn forward the toothed cylinder is rotated in the direction of the arrow on Fig. 2 and as the teeth approach the ground they are turned out to a digging position and held locked to such position while passing through the soil from the front of lthe cylinder to the rear, and as they begin the ascent the teeth drop back to permit the hangings thereon to slide oif and pass through the comb 35 which frees the teeth of all roots of the uplifted quack grass, which, after being pulled and rooted up, falls on top of the ground Ato be raked up or allowed to remain, as fertilizer.

To provide for spreading the picked and dropped grass over the field, after the digg'er has pulled and deposited the same, a member 70 is supported by strap iron arms (l that project rearwardly from side bars of the digger frame, and the said member includes a series of horizontal and parallely disposed teeth 72 joined and braced by the cross members 73.

lt will be noticed that the comb 35 has its teeth 3G curved to conform approximately to the curvature of the cylinder, and is held in a substantially vertical position adjacent to the cylinder so that the cylinder may be adjusted up or down to regulate the penetration of the teeth l0 into the ground withoutl disturbing the operative function of the comb.

What I claim is l. A shaft, tractor wheels on the ends thereof, a cylinder rotatable on the said shaft, said cylinder including cupped wheellike end members, a set of tooth carrying rods mounted within the said ends, levers on the ends of the said rods within said cupped like end members, and cams within the said cupped like members lixedly mounted on the shaft to be engaged by said levers to rock the said tooth carrying rods, said cupped wheel-like member including rim portions that protectively surround the said levers and cams.

2. A shaft, tractor wheels on said shaft, a cylinder rotatable on said shaft, said cylinder including cupped wheel-like end members, a set of tooth carrying rods mounted in said end members, levers on said rods within said cupped wheel-like end members, cams within said end members, relatively fixed on said shaft to be engaged by said levers to rock said rods, a relatively fixed comb curved to conform to the curvature of said cylinder between which said rod teeth are projectable at times, substantially as shown and described.

3. A shaft, tractor wheels on said shaft, a cylinder rotatable on said shaft, said cylinder including wheel-like end members, a set of tooth carrying rods mounted in said end members, levers on said rods, cams relatively lixed on said shaft to be engaged by said levers to rock said rods, a relatively fixed comb curved to conform to the curvat-ure of said cylinder between the teeth of which comb said rod teeth are proj ectable at times, and means for raising and lowering said cylinder to regulate the penetration of the teeth into the gro-und without disturbing the operative function of said comb.

4;. A shaft, tractor wheels on said shaft, a rotatable cylinder on said shaft, digging teeth mounted on said cylinder, means for projecting and withdrawing the teeth through said cylinder as said cylinder turns, a relatively fixed comb curved to conform to the curvature of said cylinder, and between the teeth of which comb said cylinder carried teeth are projectable at times, together with means for raising and lowering said cylinder to regulate the penetration of the teeth-into the ground without disturbing the continuous operative function of said comb.

LOUIS E. GUIDINGER. litnesses M. H. REILAND, NICK KTMMEL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). C. 

